Exploring the writer's craft

The writers Charlotte Lankford selected for Monday evening’s edition of North Carolina Author’s Night represented a broad range of interests and experience levels. The five-author panel included writers discussing works detailing their own lives or local history, an award-winning mystery writer talking about the long road to finding a publisher, and a young cartoonist/illustrator explaining how a graphic novel comes to life.

“I think we’ve got one of the best mixes of local authors we’ve ever had for one of these nights,” said Lankford, a librarian in the Madison and Mayodan branches of the Rockingham County Library. “I’m always amazed at the talent we have living right around us.”

Although a number of local writers have appeared at Author’s Night events in previous years, Lankford said Monday was the first time to have a graphic novel artist on the panel.

“And he’s from right here in Mayodan,” she said.

A 1998 graduate of McMichael High School, Thomas Boatwright went on to study at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art in Dover, N.J. Boatwright said he never really outgrew his childhood fascination with creating strange characters.

“I’m just one of those kids that never stopped drawing,” he said. “I was just fortunate enough to find a way to make some money doing it. But I’d be doing it whether I got paid or not.”

Boatwright presently has two graphic novels published by Slave Labor Graphics, both in collaboration with writer Ryan Rubio. While limited copies of the duo’s first venture – “Cemetery Blues” – are still available, the newest collaboration – “Zeke Deadwood: Zombie Lawman” – was just released this summer.

Boatwright described his newest creation as a living dead Lone Ranger.

“He’s not you typical western hero,” he said. “But he was a lot of fun to draw.”

Boatwright and Rubio develop a concept for their works and Rubio writes a preliminary script. As Boatwright tries to portray the action in art, he often makes adaptations and changes that develop into new story lines or scenes.

“Ryan’s original thought was to have Zeke’s story told by a narrator,” he said. “As I was drawing it, the character became like a news announcer telling the story of Zeke Deadwood’s exploits.”

Not yet able to live solely on profits from his cartooning, Boatwright works as a digital artist for Tim Talley Photography in Reidsville. He and Rubio are also working on a possible sequel for Zeke Deadwood.

Novelist Bill Floyd grew up nearby in Lexington and earned a degree in English from Appalachian State University. Floyd’s first commercially published novel – “The Killer’s Wife” – was picked up by Macmillan Publishing. The book earned Floyd a 2008 Mary Higgins Clark Award and a nomination for the International Thriller Writer’s Best First Novel award.

When asked how he develops ideas for his stories, Floyd said all that was necessary was to pick up a newspaper.

“There are crazier things going on the world around you every day than anyone could ever come up with on their own,” he said.

“The Killer’s Wife” portrays the life of a woman that discovers her husband is a serial killer. After she turns him in and testifies against him at his trial, she moves away and tries to establish a new life on her own.

Six years after her husband is convicted, a family member of one of his victims tracks her down with the idea that she was somehow involved in her husband’s crimes.

“The story deals with how she tries to build a new life after the ordeal she endures, then has to cope with a new set of circumstances that brings back all of those things she has worked so hard to put behind her,” Floyd said.

The story line in “The Killer’s Wife” evolved from Floyd’s reading about the BTK killer. He said he started wondering what it was like for the family and friends of the man that only knew him as a loving husband, father, friend or church member.

“I wanted to write a story that focused our attention on how often we are in relationships where things are overlooked that can be important,” Floyd said. “I wanted it to be a page-turner thriller, but I also hope it helps people stop and think about their own relationships.”

Floyd said it took him about eight months to write “The Killer’s Wife,” but he has drawers full of manuscripts at home that took even longer. The key was finding the right publisher that could turn this book into a success. “The Killer’s Wife” has received international distribution in Japan, France, Germany, Australia and the Netherlands.

“The key is finding the right match of story and publisher,” Floyd said.

Currently able to spend full-time writing due to profits from “The Killer’s Wife,” Floyd is near completion of a new novel. He lives in the Triangle area with his wife, Amy.

Monday evening’s forum included two authors from Madison, Margaret Joyce and Doneen Key. Both writers self-published autobiographies concerning their own experiences.

Joyce’s book, “What a Trip,” gives account of her life from birth through 47 years of marriage to William Joyce. Joyce said she started working on the book several years ago just as a way to put down some of her history to share with family and friends.

“I started working on it on an old-fashioned typewriter,” she said. “But I got so tired of making corrections and starting over that I got a computer.”

But even that had complications, including losing all the pages Joyce had saved when her hard drive crashed.

“I had it all printed out, but it took forever to get it all organized into chapters and corrected,” she said.

Joyce said “What a Trip” takes her life up through about 1998. When she was asked if she would consider writing another book detailing the years since then, she was quick to say no.

“I’m not really interested in concentrating that much any more,” she said.

Joyce worked 35 years as a teacher and guidance counselor in Forsyth, Rockingham and Stokes counties. She retired from teaching in 1984.
She still lives in Madison and attends Grace Baptist Church, where she volunteered for many years as organist, choir director and Sunday school teacher.

Key’s book – “Do You Want to Take Her Home?” – chronicles her journey from a struggling infant with Apert Syndrome facing five surgeries before her first birthday to a confident young woman searching for ways to share her love for life with others.

The book credits Key’s family – her father Don, mother Noreen and older sister Rhonda – for remaining a strong support system for her throughout her life. She said their love empowered her to share her loving, caring attitude with others as a volunteer.

The fifth author featured Monday evening was Trudy Smith. Smith began writing in the late 80s, co-authoring her first book – “White Christmas, Bloody Christmas: The True Story of the Lawson Family Murders” – with her father, the late M. Bruce Jones.

Although they were never able to find a publisher for the book, Smith related how the self-published work took the southern states by storm.

“It went on to become one of the South’s most sought-after and collectible books,” Smith said. “Some copies are going for as much as $300 online today.”

In 2006, Smith revisited the famous Lawson tragedy, presenting readers with a new 376-page hardcover book with greater detail, more updated interviews and information, and a different perspective on the murders. The title of the new book, “The Meaning of Our Tears,” comes from an inscription on the family’s mass grave in Stokes County.

Smith said her father was only 8 years old when the tragedy occurred, but the memory of that day stayed with him throughout his life. She worked with him to write the original book and felt compelled to complete the telling of the story with the second book.

Smith leaves the Lawson family story behind in her newest book. “House of Petticoats: The Jessie Huffman Story” is due to release in trade paperback this fall. The book is based on the journals of Jessie Huffman, and the title comes from an idea mentioned by Huffman in her journals.

“The story is all Huffman’s, but I did dramatize the story with dialogue to make it more readable than a lot of facts and events,” Smith said.

All of the books from the five local authors featured Monday evening are available at the Rockingham County Library branches. But Lankford said there might be a waiting list.

“Right now, all of them are checked out,” she said. “Our local authors are really pretty popular here.”